Delhi High Court refuses to allow devotees to perform Chhath Puja at 'highly polluted' Yamuna banks
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to allow devotees to perform Chhath Puja at banks of Yamuna river in the national capital, noting that it was highly polluted and could lead to people falling sick.
The high court noted that the Delhi government has made sufficient arrangements for devotees to perform puja at 1,000 spots in the city and nothing else can be done at the eleventh hour. The High Court's ruling came just a day before the start of the Chhath Puja festival.
"Please understand you will fall sick. We can't allow you (devotees) to go into the water. It is highly polluted. It is a gigantic task, it cannot be done now. We can't clean up Yamuna in one day's time," a Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.
It said that "this will be very harmful, we don't want any harm to be done to devotees". The Bench observed that there was no unanimity in citizens and while someone wanted to clean up Yamuna, the others wanted the encroachment and authorised construction on the river to stay so that they could do their politics.
The court referred to its recent order in another case in which judicial notice was taken about the fact that pollution in the Yamuna river was at an all-time high.
The high court noted that the Delhi government has made sufficient arrangements for devotees to perform puja at 1,000 spots in the city and nothing else can be done at the eleventh hour. The High Court's ruling came just a day before the start of the Chhath Puja festival.
"Please understand you will fall sick. We can't allow you (devotees) to go into the water. It is highly polluted. It is a gigantic task, it cannot be done now. We can't clean up Yamuna in one day's time," a Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.
It said that "this will be very harmful, we don't want any harm to be done to devotees". The Bench observed that there was no unanimity in citizens and while someone wanted to clean up Yamuna, the others wanted the encroachment and authorised construction on the river to stay so that they could do their politics.
The court referred to its recent order in another case in which judicial notice was taken about the fact that pollution in the Yamuna river was at an all-time high.